Charlie Parker (1920-1955) was an American alto saxophonist and composer, one of the architects of bebop and one of the most influential figures in jazz history. Known as “Bird,” he transformed the language of improvisation.

In the Pristine catalogue he appears in Charlie Parker with Strings and in the 1953 Massey Hall concert with Dizzy Gillespie, Bud Powell, Charles Mingus and Max Roach.

Parker’s playing was fast, lyrical, harmonically brilliant and rhythmically elastic. He could make a line twist through impossible changes and still land like speech.

His influence is immeasurable. Parker did not merely play new notes; he altered the nervous system of jazz.